by Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor

WWE Smackdown review
March 13, 2009
Taped 3/3/09 in Uncasville, Conn.
Aired on MyNetwork TV


-Clips of the contract signing from this Monday night on Raw aired. I’m sure Vickie will make an attempt at ‘splainin’ things tonight.

-Smackdown Open.

-Tonight, we’ll get a re-match between The Undertaker and Vladimir Kozlov. Also, Matt Hardy “tells all” tonight.

1- EDGE vs. KOFI KINGSTON

For those keeping track, no explanation as to what Kofi was doing on Smackdown. This match is apparently due to Edge taking Kofi out of the Chamber match in February. Kofi got a clothesline for a one-count. First minute or so was very basic. Dropkick by Kofi for two. Edge took a break on the outside to avoid Kingston’s offense. Time for a break.

[Commercial Break]

Edge had the advantage out of break. Kofi fought out of the corner, but Edge whipped him hard into the buckle. Flapjack by Edge for two. Edge went to the top but Kofi tripped him up before he could get there. He ended up kicking the Rated R Superstar off the apron, then flew onto him on the outside with a cross-body. Kingston jump-started his offense (pun intended) and hit his famous legdrop followed by a standing splash for a near-fall. Hurricanrana out of the corner by Kofi for two. To the outside, where Kofi rammed Edge’s head into the ring steps. Back in, another high cross-body for two. Big boot by Edge and both men were down. Edge measured Kingston for a spear but Kofi dodged it and rolled Edge up for two. Kofi’s finisher was blocked and Edge locked in the Sharpshooter. Kofi tapped.

WINNER: Edge, at 10:18. OK match. Felt like a house-show main-event.

-Tonight, we’ll see the Breaking and Entering that happened this past week on Raw with Randy Orton and HHH.

-Next, the World Tag Titles are on the line next as Miz & Morrison defend against Primo & Carlito.

[Commercial Break]

2- JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ vs. PRIMO & CARLITO- WORLD TAG TITLE MATCH

The Bella Twins escorted the Colons to the ring. Quick roll-up by Carly after the lock-up, and he tried a couple more early pinning combinations, which seemed to catch Morrison off guard. Morrison clobbered Carlito in the corner, but Carlito came back with a knee-lift and clothesline combo. Primo tagged in and, after a double-team move, got a thrust to the throat for his efforts. Springboard double-clothesline from the Colons on Miz. Face-plant by Miz on Carlito. Tazz: “A lot of people could say bad things about The Miz....” JR: “....and they should!” Some double-teaming by the heels to match the faces, which kept Carlito in their corner. Morrison took Carlito down to the mat and worked over the arm and neck. The Man Who Spits In The Face Of People Who Don’t Want To Be Cool was able to fight off Miz and Morrison and make the tag to his younger brother. Primo hit a headbutt off the second rope, then threw Miz out of the ring to concentrate on the legal man. Carlito tagged in and turned Morrison inside out with a clothesline. Miz interfered and low-bridged Primo. Carlito took out Miz and walked into a Moonlight Drive, and the champs retain.

WINNERS: Morrison & Miz, at 5:58. Another good match between these two teams. I’m looking forward to their presumed Wrestlemania battle to unify the titles.

-The Bella Twins left with the winners.

-Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Undertaker is still to come.

-But up next, footage of Triple H and Randy Orton’s In (Someone’s) House brawl from this past Monday.

[Commercial Break]

-Tazz thanked AC/DC for allowing WWE to use their songs as the themes to Wrestlemania.

-Matt Hardy will tell all tonight.

-Clips from the interview as well as the break-in from Raw aired.

-R-Truth made his entrance (not through the crowd).....he’s in tag action next.

[Commercial Break]

3- R-TRUTH & MVP vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN & CHAVO GUERRERO

The piped-in crowd noise was evident early as some fans chanted for Chavo, yet seconds later, they erupted for a Truth sidekick. Frequent tags by the faces as Truth was booed by some once again when he entered the ring. Chavo went to make a tag but Shelton just stared at him, not offering him a hand. Chavo backed Truth into the corner and Shelton tagged himself in. Truth fought away from both men, but ended up on the business end of a knee-lift. “R-Truth is False” sign in the crowd. Now a few are chanting for Shelton. They really hate Truth here. Belly-to-belly suplex by Chavo. MVP successfully got a small R-Truth chant going, and Truth must’ve felt the people behind him as he nailed Shelton with a bulldog. Truth made the tag and MVP cleaned house on Shelton. Flying forearm by Montel Vontavious Porter. “Ballin’!” elbowdrop was hit and MVP brought Chavo in the hard way. Truth went after him, but he got dumped out. Chavo soon followed and Shelton hit Paydirt for the win.

WINNERS: Shelton & Chavo, at 6:02. Almost the same finish as the last match (guys get sent to the outside, face is distracted by this, heel hits his finisher). Crowd was kinda distracting to me at least, with being quiet until the end and the booing of Truth.

-Matt Hardy was walking backstage, heading to the ring for his interview.

-Next week is the 500th episode of Smackdown.

[Commercial Break]

-Matt Hardy came out. Matt said the black cloud continues to hover over Jeff and it will continue until Jeff decides to fight him. He said he came out to get some things off his chest. Matt said he’d force Jeff to listen to what he has to say. Jeff has been through a lot this year, a lot of ups and downs. He brought up Jeff not being able to compete at Wrestlemania last year because he was suspended. Matt said he had an injury, a legitimate reason for missing the show. He said no one gave a damn about him; they all wanted to know if Jeff was getting the help he needed, wondering if he’d return to the ring. He said Jeff locked himself in his studio and recorded songs, painted pictures and refused to be responsible for his actions. Matt said everyone expected him to come in and pick up the pieces.

He said Jeff suffered an unfortunate amount of accidents this year and talked about each one of them. He wondered who could’ve done this to him. Was it a group of people who held a grudge, or just one person? Matt said one day he’ll remember very vividly is back shortly after he got suspended. Matt said he had to call Jeff to tell him his house was on fire. Matt said he could only picture in his mind everything that Jeff worked so hard for that went up in smoke. Matt then said Jeff asked about his dog Jack and Matt had to tell him that he didn’t make it. Matt took a small dog collar out from his pocket and held it up. He asked Jeff if he remembered it. Matt said he found it after everything of Jeff’s went down in flames. He said he’s been holding onto it for a long time. Matt said he wanted to give it to Jeff when the time was right and that time is now. Matt said he wanted to give it as a token of his love for his brother.

Jeff walked out, sans music. He’s not really buying this, is he? He walked into the ring and paced around Matt, clearly upset by Matt’s words. He grabbed the mic out of Matt’s hands. Jeff said Matt was behind all of it- the stairwell, the car crash and the pyro. Jeff said he never thought anyone in his family could do something like that. He begged Matt not to bring up the fire. Jeff said Matt hates him, but Matt hates himself more than he could ever know. Jeff said Matt was sick, twisted and demented. Jeff said he was too and tackled Matt. The two started throwing haymakers on the mat until Matt rolled out of the ring. Matt crawled away from ringside with his hand up, begging Jeff not to come after him, saying he loved him and that he was his brother. He also was saying sorry. Matt smiled to himself as he limped to the back. Although it wasn’t explicitly stated by Matt, we’re to believe he led all these attacks on Jeff, then helped him win the title at Armageddon? A good performance by both guys, all things considered.

[Commercial Break]

-We saw the end of the last interview segment.

4- MARYSE & MICHELLE MCCOL vs. MARIA & MELINA

Thesz Press by Maria on Michelle. McCool came back by pulling the hair and choking Maria in the ropes. Michelle stomped away at Maria and hit a European Uppercut. The two collided near the neutral corner. Both ladies made tags and Melina was all over Maryse. Some sort of senton as called by JR as Melina went off the top rope and sat down on the standing Maryse’s face. Maryse grabbed Melina and went to make a tag, but Michelle wasn’t having any of it, so Melina rolled Maryse up and picked up the W.

WINNERS: Maria & Melina, at 2:45.

Maryse and Michelle brawled after the match.

-Edge was backstage, venting to Chavo. He still couldn’t believe what happened on Monday night. He also couldn’t believe Vickie cheated on him and he called himself a loving, devoted husband. Chavo said no one knows her better than him, as she calls her all the time and stuff. Edge was unhappy with that so Chavo back-peddled, saying they’re only related by blood and he doesn’t know her very well. Edge grabbed Chavo by the throat and pushed him up against the wall, saying no one would take his title from him.

-The final MITB qualifying match is next, Finlay vs. The Brian Kendrick. This has been the only plug for this match thus far.

-A Wrestlemania XX video package aired.

[Commercial Break]

5- FINLAY vs. THE BRIAN KENDRICK

Kendrick had the dance turned up 110% this week. It’s been a while, so I guess it was deserved. Ezekiel Jackson punched Finlay square in the face before the match started. Actually, upon replay, it was clear Zeke punched his own arm, protecting Finlay’s face. The “punch” didn’t seem to affect Finlay much once the match got started. Kendrick slapped Finlay, then ran and hid behind Jackson. Jackson caused the distraction, allowing Kendrick to take over. High dropkick off the top rope by Kendrick for two. Finlay hit a version of the Stunner, but Kendrick came back with another dropkick. Kendrick missed an elbow and Finlay did some trash talking with Jackson. He caught Kendrick’s baseball slide with the apron cover, then went on offense in the ring. Finlay went to the middle rope and Zeke caused another distraction. The Kendrick was dodged and Finlay hit the Celtic Cross for three.

WINNER: Finlay, at 3:12. Dang.

-Coming up next, Vladimir Kozlov faces The Undertaker.

[Commercial Break]

-Kid Rock is also supplying a song for Wrestlemania.

-The main heel of the movie “12 Rounds” was profiled.

-JR and Tazz previewed the card for Wrestlemania XXV. Apparently, without “officially” announcing it, Jeff will face Matt.

-The Undertaker came out for the main event. It’s next.

[Commercial Break]

6- THE UNDERTAKER vs. VLADIMIR KOZLOV

Taker was aggressive as soon as the bell rang. Kozlov took advantage of the aggressiveness of Taker and ended up bouncing Taker’s head off the announce table twice. In the ring, Kozlov battered Taker with headbutts to the chest. A reverse of an Irish whip sent Kozlov back-first into the security wall at ringside. Taker clotheslined the Russian into the timekeeper’s area.

[Commercial Break]

Kozlov was draped over the apron and Taker dropped the leg over his throat as soon as the show returned. Blatant choke in the corner by the Phenom. Kozlov tried fighting out, but his punches were no match for Taker’s. Kozlov did surprise Taker with a powerslam for two. He turned the tables and laid the punches in on Undertaker. Forearms, elbows and shoulders to the Dead Man in the corner. The back-and-forth match continued with Taker on offense. Kozlov tackled Taker out of the corner after what looked like an edit. JR referred to Kozlov’s offense as “bowling-shoe ugly, but effective.” Clothesline by Kozlov for two. Side headlock by Kozlov, which Taker countered with a suplex, what Tazz called a version of a Saito Suplex. Running splash/clothesline in the corner from Taker. Snake Eyes that Kozlov took mildly better than a few weeks ago, but he turned around and headbutted Taker in the chest. The Dead Man barely kicked out at two. Taker went Old School on Vlad and hit. He set up for the chokeslam, and hit it. He picked up The Moscow Mauler and Tombstoned him for three.

WINNER: Undertaker, at 13:20. I thought this one was better than their duel a few weeks ago. This one was, dare I say, “good.”

Greg Parks has been covering Smackdown for PWTorch.com since January of 2007. You can also hear him every-other-week in the post-Raw audio show in the Torch VIP audio section and read his all-new blog in the VIP forum. Check out his column each week in the PDF-exclusive version of the Torch Newsletter. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to gpar0907@brockport.edu.

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